How It All Began.....
This page will be about how I got into reptiles and the hardships I learnt along the way. They were hard lessons to learn but we don't learn without experiencing things for ourselves. The First Two I had always had such an interest in reptiles since I was very little. The shere size of a huge Burmese Python or the speed and agility of an African House Snake. Whatever reptile it was, I was there, listening to every fact there was and fascinated by their beauty. My biggest inspiration was the animal legend; Steve Irwin who dedicated his life to all animals, ensuring they weren't harmed by human interferance. It took me years and years of persuading my mum and dad to let me have a snake of my own and finally, 7 cats, a new house, 1 dog, 50 Tropical Fish and 6 hamsters later, mum gave in and let me have a corn snake - well two corn snakes actually. They were being sold as a pair. Being the Harry Potter fan I was, I named them Bellatrix and Snape seeing as they were dark in colour. They were my first ever snakes. Unfortunately though, I didn't know Corn Snakes were natural escape artists and whilst at school one day, Bellatrix and Snape both escaped from a tiny opening in the glass of their Vivarium. I searched for hours, finding Bellatrix but not Snape. I put Bella back in the vivarium and closed it tightly so she couldn't escape again. Then when I was on Holiday, my dad found Snape under the hoover and put him in the vivarium as well, also blocking the glass from opening with a rubber wedge. But being the typical dad he is, he didn't hold the glass closed when he wedged it and so they escaped again. Once more, I searched desperately, wanting to find my precious babies (because they were babies) but had no luck. Still to this day, I hope I might find Bellatrix. Sadly Snape got out of the actual house and my neighbour killed him before asking my mum to come and get him. I never forgave my supposed "animal loving" neighbour. Lessons Learnt From having lost Bellatrix and Snape, I felt like I was a rubbish person who couldn't do anything right. Mum said "Don't worry darling. We'll replace them for you." And in my head I was thinking.....'How can you replace something so precious and so fragile? You can't replace Snape like he was never even real. You can't replace Bellatrix like she never even existed.' I said this to my mum and it must have been about 2 weeks before I finally found the courage to get another snake. I never forgot Bellatrix or Snape though. I always remember them and I love to daydream in the middle of College about how I always cuddled them and played with them and gave them a good life until they escaped. Even now 6 years later I still dream about them and what they would have been like when fully grown. It was a hard lesson to learn but in a sad way, I'm glad I experienced that. It taught me to be more responsible for my actions.